Aug
02

Today in Smithsonian History: August 2, 1993

Image of the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center being built near Dulled Airport in Virginia. The building will be used to store and exhibit the Smithsonian's ever growing aeronautical collections. Well known objects including the Space Shuttle Enterprise and the Enola Gay will be on display at the new center

The Udvar-Hazy Center under construction near Chantilly, Va., in October 2002.  (Photographer unknown, as featured in the Torch, January 2003)

August 2, 1993 President William Jefferson Clinton signs legislation establishing an extension for the National Air and Space Museum near Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is a massive structure with open, hangar-like settings that accommodate large aircraft and spacecraft, including the space shuttle Discovery and the B-29 bomber Enola Gay, as well as entire collections of aviation and space artifacts.

Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport is the companion facility to the Museum on the National Mall. The building opened in December, 2003, and provides enough space for the Smithsonian to display the thousands of aviation and space artifacts that cannot be exhibited on the National Mall. The two sites together showcase the largest collection of aviation and space artifacts in the world. (Image by Dane Penland, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution)

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport is the companion facility to the Museum on the National Mall. The building opened in December, 2003, and provides enough space for the Smithsonian to display the thousands of aviation and space artifacts that cannot be exhibited on the National Mall. The two sites together showcase the largest collection of aviation and space artifacts in the world. (Image by Dane Penland, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution)

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport is the companion facility to the Museum on the National Mall. The building opened in December, 2003, and provides enough space for the Smithsonian to display the thousands of aviation and space artifacts that cannot be exhibited on the National Mall. The two sites together showcase the largest collection of aviation and space artifacts in the world. (Photo by Dane Penland)

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport is the companion facility to the Museum on the National Mall. The building opened in December, 2003, and provides enough space for the Smithsonian to display the thousands of aviation and space artifacts that cannot be exhibited on the National Mall. The two sites together showcase the largest collection of aviation and space artifacts in the world. (Photo by Dane Penland)

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Posted: 2 August 2019
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